The Cowan Foundation
Private foundation · Cambridge, Ontario · BN 119233716RR0001 · Foundations Advancing Education · website
Source: T3010 return, FPE 2024-12-31. Split of total expenditures ($2,688,241) as filed with the CRA.
The Cowan Foundation is a private foundation based in Cambridge, Ontario, classified by the CRA under foundations advancing education. In its fiscal year ending December 31, 2024, it reported $6.7M in revenue and $2.7M in expenditures.
Compared with 632 education charities of similar size, its share of spending on mission — charitable programs plus grants to other charities — ranked above 89% of peers. Its reserves, measured in years of spending on hand, sat in the top decile of the group.
As a grantmaker, it reported gifts to 35 qualified donees totalling $2.5M in 2024, the largest being $1M to The Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning. Revenue has grown substantially over its filings on record here, from $2.2M in 2020 to $6.7M in 2024. Its filed list of directors and trustees shows 9 names.
In its own words
Donations to health education social services arts and other charitable organizations.
Ongoing-program description from its T3010 filing, verbatim.
The ledger, 2020–2024
| Year | Revenue | Spending | Programs | Fundraising | Gifts out | Net assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $6.7M | $2.7M | $151K | — | $2.5M | $67.1M |
| 2023 | $4.4M | $2.8M | $243K | — | $2.5M | $63M |
| 2022 | -$6.7M | $3.1M | — | — | $2.8M | $61.5M |
| 2021 | $69.3M | $3M | — | — | $2.8M | $71.2M |
| 2020 | $2.2M | $2.5M | — | — | $2.4M | $4.9M |
Revenue printed in red where the year ran a deficit. Fiscal years by period end.
Money between charities, 2024
Granted $2.5M to 35 qualified donees — largest 25 shown:
- The Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning$1M
- The Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning$500K
- The Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning$400K
- K-W Working Centre for the Unemployed$250K
- Homewood Research Institute/institut de Recherches Homewood$65K
- Perimeter Institute$50K
- Shelter Movers$50K
- Lions of Canada Fund for LCIF$48K
- Homewood Research Institute/institut de Recherches Homewood$29K
- Strong Start Charitable Organization$15K
- Perimeter Institute$15K
- Brant Waterways Foundation$10K
- ST Paul's Church$10K
- Independent Living Waterloo Region$10K
- Tree Canada / Arbres Canada$6,000
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Society of Canada Société Canadienne de la Sclérose Latérale Amyotrophique$5,750
- The Ottawa Food Bank/la Banque d'Alimentation d'Ottawa$5,000
- Neighbour to Neighbour Centre (hamilton)$5,000
- Community Resource & Employment Service (brantford)$5,000
- The Governing Council of the Salvation Army in Canada/conseil de Direction de l'Armée du Salut du Canada$5,000
- The Food Bank of Waterloo Region$5,000
- Cambridge Food Bank$5,000
- Township of North Dumfries$5,000
- Canadahelps Canadon$1,000
- Food4Kids Waterloo Region$1,000
As reported on the donors’ own T3010 qualified-donee schedules.
What it pays
- Permanent full-time positions0
- Total compensation, all staff$28K
Schedule 3 of its 2024 return. The CRA discloses bands, not names or exact salaries.
Directors & trustees (2024)
Maureen Cowan (chairman); Terry Reidel; Mary D'Alton (executive director); John Quinlan (vice-chair); Donald Hunt; Sharon Schweda (treasurer); Helen Jowett; Alexander Sheedy; Katherine Sheedy.
As listed on its 2024 return.
Check the source
Every figure on this page is from The Cowan Foundation’s own T3010 filings, published by the Canada Revenue Agency. Verify against the CRA’s charities listing (search BN 119233716RR0001), or read how we compute the receipt.